International Women’s Day | Films and series with leading women

Productions that feature leading women and who are fearless are more and more numerous on our screens (small and large). On the occasion of International Women’s Day, which is held on March 8, our journalists suggest films and series with inspiring roles.

Borgen, a woman in power

With the highly anticipated fourth season joining the first three on Netflix in the spring, it’s a great time to get started on the world of Borgen, a woman in power or to dive back into it. The series created in 2010 in Denmark, which had been broadcast here from 2012, is a fascinating foray into the scenes of politics and the daily life of a woman who occupies the highest office. By his intelligence and his relevance which has not aged a bit, Borgen has become a classic of the genre, and if some are nervous at the idea of ​​finding Birgitte Nyborg almost 10 years later, it is above all never too late to discover her.

On Netflix

Josee Lapointe, The Press

eye of the storm

The life of Isabelle (Christine Beaulieu), separated, mother of three children and self-employed, is a real whirlwind. In this charming series, the two seasons of which are on Tou.tv – the first is currently being broadcast on Radio-Canada –, we talk about mental workload in a comedic tone, but above all, we present a realistic, imperfect and strong at the same time. In the second season, the bond between Isabelle, her mother (Danielle Proulx), her sister (Véronique Cloutier) and her teenage daughter (Emi Chicoine) is further exploited, and this feminine complicity, even if it is not perfect (yet ), exudes power and warmth… while making you laugh a lot.

On Tou.tv Extra and Radio-Canada

Josee Lapointe, The Press

Killing Eve

The fourth (and final) season of the thrilling spy series Killing Eve just started. This is an excellent reason to discover (or revisit) the adventures of the persevering Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh), an agent for the British secret service, on the heels of the fascinating and imperturbable Russian hitman Villanelle (Jodie Comer). The fearless female duo are surrounded by other strong women, including experienced agent Carolyn Martens (Fiona Shaw), thanks to the fertile imaginations of screenwriters and directors like Phœbe Waller-Bridge, Suzanne Heathcote and Laura Neal.

On Crave and Canal+

Danielle Bonneau, The Press

The fabulous M^me Maisel

What if Lenny Bruce, legendary humorist who slew American prudishness at the risk of his own physical integrity, had been not a man, but a young Jewish housewife from the Upper West Side? Such is the fabulous (!) starting point of this exuberant series (whose fourth season has just started) created by Amy Sherman-Palladino (Gilmore Girls), in which Miriam Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) distributes the murderous repartee at the same pace as she sheds her domestications (without giving up her magnificent pink suits paparman). She forms with her agent, the grumpy Susie (Alex Borstein), one of the most endearing comic duos on the small screen. Few odes to female empowerment are so purely fun.

On Amazon Prime Video

Dominic Tardif, The Press

The flaw

Céline Trudeau does not look easy to live with. Overprotective mother, intransigent co-worker and inaccessible lover, she makes everyone who approaches her drool. Her flaws, however, make her one of the most fascinating characters on the small screen. No need to mention that Isabel Richer’s interpretation also has something to do with it. As we shoot the third season of his adventures, it’s time to catch up on the first two. Don’t wait, because since the action of the crime thriller directed by Patrice Sauvé takes place in winter, you might miss the courage to dive into two meters of snow in the middle of summer.

On Club illico

Marc-Andre Lemieux, The Press

The Good Fight (An exemplary struggle)

The Good Fight (An exemplary struggle) is not only a series that puts forward women of power; it promotes diversity. Derived from the excellent court drama The Good Wife (An exemplary woman), this offering from Paramount+ plunges us into the heart of a predominantly African-American law firm in Chicago. The more the seasons pass, the more the episodes reflect the news. The Trump era greatly inspired the team of authors, who drank in the escapades of the 45^and President of the United States to lay episodes as original as punch. We are eagerly awaiting the sixth season in the summer.

On Paramount+, Amazon Prime Video, ICI Tou. tv Extra, Series Plus

Marc-Andre Lemieux, The Press

Portrait of the girl on fire, by Celine Sciamma

This is a splendid period film, sensitive, sensual and poetic, about the impossible – and burning – love between two young women, at the end of the 18th century.^and century. It is both a manifesto on the condition of women and on the straitjacket of patriarchal society, with an inevitable contemporary resonance. There is practically no man in the film, except the one who carries the luggage at the beginning… Céline Sciamma has deliberately chosen, in a magnificently subtle staging, to offer a feminine look at a story of female love. We notice it so much it is exceptional.

On Crave, Illico and Tou.tv Extra

Marc Cassivi, The Press